Process of and apparatus for treating paperboard and the like



1930- R. KASTNERETAL 3385,44

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING PAPER BOARD AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 21, 192 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1930. R. KASTNER ET AL 9 9 PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING PAPER BOARD AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 21, 1928 '2 sneet-sneep-z e of water.

Patented Dec. 16, j v

{U ITED STAT Es PA ENT- 'OFF CEI RICHARD KASTNER, or sraranauunn, AND Barnum sonm'onn,or vmrma,

'- AUSTRIA.

rnocnss or AND Arrmrus r03 TREATING raranaoazan am) rim aura Application filed January 21, 1928, Serial No, 248,450, and in Austria January 29, 1927.

The removing of water from-paper-board and the like and the subsequent drylngojf the latter had heretoforebeen accomplished in such a manner that a plurality of wet 5 sheets of paper-board coming from thePaper-board machine had been piled up and subjected in such condition to a heavy ressure by means ofa s'pindleress or ahy ra'ulic press, so that a part of the water .had been removed. The remaining contents of-water' had then been removed from the paper-board by applying a, mparate dryin processuntil an air-dry product had been 0 tained. This separate drying process had been carried out- '15 ordinarily by means or a special apparatus provided with heatihg and airing devices. The wet sheets in the condition as they come from the paper-board machine, consist, with reference to the air-dry condition', of about one third of paper-substance and two thirds 300 kg. of'wetpaper-mass there- 'fore. contains 100 kg. of.'paper-substan'ce' and 200 kg. of water. Through pressing how ever it had heretofore only bee'fipossible'to raise the percentagepf the paper-substance in air-dry condition of the wet sheets of pa per-board to about to 40%, while the re-' maining moisture had to be removed in the -subsequent drying process by supplying heat 3o sorts' of paper-boardjwhich according to the known processes may be broughtto to of paper-substancein airdry condition.

By the drying-process according to our invention in the first place a far greater amountof water may be preliminarily withdrawn fromthe paper-mass by the pressing fthe sheets of paper-board and inaddition to this thefinal drying of the' pa'per mass is 'accomg plished within the press. 'The process ac,

cording to our invention, compared with known processes', isconnected with a number of. advantages, which will be more fully-dealt with furtherzbe'low. According-to our in-.

I vention the new process comprises'in its pre-' to the paper mass. There are only a few ferredform essentially three successive steps of working. 7 During the first step the paper-.-

boards to be treated are solely compressed at normal temperature, in order to remove the greatest part 'ofthewateryi contents of the 5 reduce the viscosit' of the watery contentsand to thereby-i acilitate their removal;

During the third s e of working according to our invention the al drying'of the is accomplished by increasing the heat. sllpo0 plied to the mass, so that the water contents of said' iasslwillbe removed there rom'partly by evaporation without taking the. mass out of the press. 1 4 n An essential'feature of the ing'to our invention consists rther therein 1 that during thepressing operation, especially during the-flabovesmentioned two first ste s j of working, the pile ofpaper-boards is' if vided into relatively thin layers or packages .70

which are separated from each other by wire-meshes In 'thls'cas'e the arrangement is refera'bly. made m'such a manner that. eac 'layer or.

package of the paper-board is piled between :two fine wire-meshes and that after every.

second or third of said layers or packages a smooth, non-perforated metaLplateis inter posed'between the adjacent surfacesof' the wire-meshes of two successive layers or packages. .The effect of these wire-meshes and also of the smoothmetal-plates which are in part arranged between two meshes consists" therein thatlthe watery contents'which are I removed from-the paperemass; by pressure" may pass'freelzy and without obstruction in v termediate thetmeshes and the plates towards the outside. This is due to the fact'thatfin comparison with the pressure to which the paper mass is subjected, there exists only a purfiocess accord ()5; V

' about 70%.

, small pressure within the numerous interstices intermediate the meshes and the metal plates said interstices, communicat ng freely jwltll the outer air. By reason of these ample channelsthe path of dischar e of the liquid removed by compression of t e mass is relativel very short, and the resistance ofiered to the ischarge of the liquid is so smallin the direction which is'vertical to the surfaces of 1 the la ers or ackages of the paper-board pile that t e disc ar e will only take place in the said direction, the least resistance. In a subsequent ste of working according v to our invention heat is supplied to the papermass, preferably. by means of electric current,

- the wire-meshesor intermediate metal plates a greater degreeof the watery contents may flow. out of the papef' mass. The. dry contents in the papermass may in this manner b'eincreased to Now thefinal drying ,same press which had een used for preliminarily removing the watery contents by pressing. For this purpose an increased amount of heat issupplied to the paper-mass for such a period of time-that the paper-mass willassume a temperature of 100C. or more, the pressure being maintained during the first part of the heating period. If now the 5 pressure is decreased, an extensive.evapora-' tion ofthe water will take place within the .paper-mass and the steam developed thereby may easily ass to the outside, the passage of the steam ing facilitated by having the aper-mass divided into high-pressure and owressure sections, layers or the like sepa- "rate by the wire-meshes as above mentioned. The pressureis repeatedly increased and decreased in .order to discharge the remaining water in the form of; steam. The. paperin fully dry condition.

The process according to this invention is connected with a further advantage consistwhich may be desirable for special purposes,

for instance, if it is desired to produce paperthe like. This may easily bewaccomplished by decreasing the-pressure during the third stage of the process, this having the effect that thestructure of'the B5 is'carried o t/in the board pile may'nowbe taken-out of the press single wirefmeshes. Preferably for this puring therein thatfthe sheets of paper-board board which may be used as blotting-board or same sieve after-bein aper inass will be loosened'and its coherence reduced by actien "ofthe steam generated in the interior of the 'mass. p

The accompanying drawings show a prac- 1 tical example ofth'e ap aratus for carrying outa. preferred form 0 the process according to this invention. In the drawings,

Fig. lisa front view-of a press serving for carrying out the new process,

Figs. 2 and 2a are partial vertical sections, in an enlarged scale, through diflerent forms of the paper-board pile,

Figs. 3, 3a and 3b are vertical sections, in' a still more enlarged scale, through the wiremeshes which are preferably. placed intermediate the several layers of the paper boards, i

Fig. 4-is a diagram representing the quan tity of water which is removed during the .difi'erent' stages of the process according to our invention, and

Fig. 5 showsa wiring diagram foran electrical heating device which may be employed according to our invention in connection with theseveral layers or packages ofthe paperboards'ln the press. 1

For carrylng out the new process, the o'rdi{ nary presses which are at the present timev used in practice .for removing the watery contents 'from paper-board material may beemployed. 7 The press as represented in the drawing is assumedto be an hydraulically operated press lhavipg a table 2 which serves for the reception of a pile of wet sheets of paper-board 3. The several sheets of paperboard, are piled up in the form of; a plurality of sections, layers or packages, an intermediate member, such as a wire-mesh-or similar device being placed between the several layers or. packages which may be of a thickness of 10 to 15 cm. These intermediate members; as may be seen from Fig. 2, consist preferably of a pair of wire-meshes 4, 4 and a smooth non-perforated metal-sheet or plate 5 which is placed intermediate each of said sieves.

Asindicated in'Figs. 2a and 35, these inter mediate members may also solely consist of pose waste material such .as pieces of wiremesh work may be used. These pieces consieves or similardevic'es' are rolled-out flat in the-manner shown in 'Fi 3a.

'Fig. 3 is a sectionthroug original condition,

be seen that theinterstices 6 and 7 which are and the late or metal sheet 5 wil-l'be essentially re uced in size by the rolling process. a

These i tersticjes or dead spaces are injurious thef'sievein its while Fig. 3a shows'the I rolled-out. It will" positioned intermediate the wires of-th'e sieve in so far as they will be filled upnby water; during pressingof the paper-board pile, said reduced to a minimum charge 'of the water will in this case by. no

water being -again absorbed by the material I 7 during a. decrease of the pressure. The

amount of waterremoved from the papermass will thereforedepend essentiallyon the 'size of said interstices, a greater size of said interstices causing a smallerquantity of water to be removed from the paper-mass. It is evident that-by subjecting the sieves to a rolling operation, said interstices may be size Lateral dismeans be prevented, as the cross-section of said interstices will remainsufiiciently large after the rolling p ocess.

The intermediate plates or metal sheets 5 consistpreferabl of zinc or iron 'covered with zinc. As Figs. 1 and 2 show, these plates or metal-sheets 5 project laterally from the Qpileof' sheets of paper-board. The projectmg edges ofsaid plates or metal sheet-s5 may, for instance, be provided with slots which serve for the reception of the terminals8 of the cables 9 by means of whichheating current may be supplied to said plates or metalsheets.

According to the embodiment shown in the drawing it is-assumed that three-phase alternating current is used forheating purposes.

' Accordingly, the number of layers or packages dot the paper-board-is so chosen that it may be dividedby three. Inthe present case three groups each comprising three lay- -ers or packages of paper-board are providedso that there are nine layersj'or packages which in the wiring diagram shown in Fi 5 are successively designated with the" re erence letters a to k. The pile of sheets of aper-board, however, may also be subdivlded me dlfi'erent manner and more ar- "ticularlya greater 'orsmaller numbero intermediate metal sheets on platesfi may be used as electrodes'in accordance with the nature and voltage of the electric current used. These intermediate metal sheets or plates may also partly be omitted so that at I the respective places adjacent sections or packages of paper-board are only separated.

by the sieves 4., The cables Qlead to one roup of terminals of the switches A, B and a the other group of terminals of said switches being connected to the three-phase A, B and C are-connected with each other by a common operating rod K in such a manner 1 that upon motion of said-rod sai'd switches maiy be simultaneously operated. i

f n the position II ofthe switches, which position is shown intull lines, every individual electrode or plate is connected with A the current source, while in the position I, I I

which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, only every third electrode or plate ,is connected withthe current-source.

The two end plates, that is the uppermost and the 'undermost plate, forming part-of the pi e'of paper-board are. connected in single pole manner The heat supplied to the paper-mass may be thus regulated by throwin}; the switches'A, Band C fromthe positions finto the positions II in accordance with the progress of. the. drying. operation of electrical and the simultaneous increase reslstance of the paper mass.

In practice the new process is carried out as follows: First the pile of paper-board rest.-

*ing on the-table 2;of-t he press I, is pressed at normal temperature. --Ininitial condition the mass of paper-board which may have a' total weight of 300 kg. will contain generally about 200 kg. of water. Thiscond'ition is indicated in' -the diagram according to Fig. by theipoint A, the ordinate ofsaidfdiagram indicating the contents of water with stance, while the abscissaindicates the con condireference to kg. "of air-dry paper-subtents of paper-substance (in 'air-dr tion) in percentsofthe total mass. %ressure is applied to an extent permissible in view of the mechanical strength of the pile of paperboard, said pressure 'bein maintained for such a period of time until thecontents of. I

water-will amount to about 700. kg. and the contents of dry substance to about 60% of the paper-mass. The point B in Fig. 4 i'ndicates this condition, which is the result of the first stage of the process. The-point C in Fig; 4 indicates that condition 'of the ,paper-mass which had heretofore been obtained with the known processes. The drying process proper had heretofore been applied to the paper-mass afterthesame had been brought I to the said condition. I

" After completion of the pressing. operation unto the point B, theheating current is. switched-in. The heating of the pile of-paper-board whi ch now takes placeis 'referably continued only for such a period 0 tiinethatf a temperature of about 70 C. is obtained. The temperature of the paper-mass Should in no. casere'ach the boiling temperature of water, since'it is only desired to reduce the viscosity of the waterycontents of the paere-mass. A temperature of. about, 70 C. I

as been proven to be the most preferable temperature from thepoint of view of econtemperature of the pa er-mass becomes appreci'able,'tlie water will again flow oil with outany further increase of pressure: This condition will continue as far as to the point C in. Fig. 4, at-which the contents of mate? in 100 kg. of dry material will be 43 kg. so that the papermass contains about 70% of dry substance. I

omy of, heat. As soon as the increase of the In the sub se uent final drying process the temperature 0 r the paper-mass is increased by further supplying; heat thereto, -More particularly, the tem eraturelis raised to about 100-110 C. A er therequired temperature' has been attained, the'pressure acte ing upon the paper-mass-is reduced in order to permit the steam formed within saidmass to'escape' in lateral direction; Thereupon' the pressure 18 again Increased, thiscausmg againa discharge of the steam contained in the loosened paper-mass. Thisca lternatin increase and decrease of the ress'ure exerted onthe paper-mass is p'eri ically repeated.

Thislmay be accomplished by manually. operatingthe valve serving for the supply of pressure water to the hydraulic press. During this' 'stageof the process the treat- [ment of the paper-mass may be continueduntil the desired condition is attained for the.

final product inair-dry condition'. The eatest economy, however, will be obtained,

; 1f the supply'of heatingcurrent is interrupted prior-to this condition, preferably at a time when the paper-mass contains only aboiit 92% of paper-substance. During a decrease ofthe pressure exerted on the paper-4 mass additional evaporation and drying willtake place due to the contact existing be tween the paper m'ass and the exterior air in conjunction with the heat contained in the paper-mass, said latter heat/being then al- 7 most completely utilized for the drying process.-

a .In addition to the above-mentioned advan-' tages the new process which moreover may becarried out also in every stage individually, has thefollowing' further advan Accordingtorthe new process by mere action of pressure a considerable quantity of water i may be removed from the paper-mass, whidh .heret'o fore had-to beflremoved by evapora.

tion', that is by a, greater consumptionvof heat-energy,- r

v During thesecond stage of the the removal of water takesplace also in mentirely mechanical-way, that is by 'mere action ofspreissure. Theheat'which is supplied inthis' -'stage.to' the paper-mass will npt .be conearned by evaporation of. the water and will remain, in the paper-mass with the exception oithat-"quantity of'heat which is contained gin the water flowing ofl.v The heat ma 'therefore-be advantageously utilized in t e ,s ubj'sequent last stageof the new process. I Q The new process, however, is SUPGIIOI to the known processes not only from the point 'ofviewrof economy ofheat; Of ortance .-is also'the. advantage of the: better utilization of existing plants, which; as 'abo've'mentioned may be advantageously-used in the application of the new process without requiring any essential changes in-the arrangement of the,

Iplant orlp'arts thereof, and the 'eld of the plant my be enhanced to the dou le or. triple mg to the present process issupplied to the paper-mass may be utilized to-the -fullestposthe heat throughout the paper-mass and therewiththe uniformity-of the drying rocthe wire-meshes is of no disadvantageand also be -essentially enhanced by the use of,

paper-board, these'meshes having the efiect ofestablishing a-comm'unication between the w ,most interiorly-located points .of the papermass-and the exterior a r." By this also the n a a the eases the pressure is limited because'it must- 'be so chosen'that; the

amount. For carrying out the first stage "of p the new process, which, may in man cases besufiicient if an ample quantit o steam is available for the final drying o the-paperb'oard, it will only be necessary to procure thesieves. i

' In order to operate the electrical heating device, only simple switching instrumentali- I ties will be required,' together with electrical connections for the metal-sheets or plates which will serve as electrodes. The heating device may also be supplied withcurrent by- I means of a transformer having a plurality of steps of transformation or, by means of a generator. The heat-ener -whicli accord-- sible extent. a

. Also the uniformity .of the distribution of ess is an ideal one, and the quality. 0 the prod obtained .by thenew process will be considerably improved. The internal structure of the paper-board-will be rendered more uniform. and the sheets of paper-hoard will leave the press in'ent-irely. plane and smooth condition. 'The net-like ap .earance of the s urfaces-of-the paper-boar due to will 'givethe a er-board the appearance of; I a texture, w is may often be desirable.

For many P p es also satining ma be dis-' pensed with'which is ordinarily use for the sheets of paper-board after completed drying. i

The uniformitybf the drying process .will v the wire meshes, which are interposed between-the several'layers or packages ofthe totthe inventiongthere exists uniformity of pressure throughout the cross-section of the paper-mass independently of theamount of I pressure applied thereto. The removal of water by pressure thus further be 81ml DD V When carrying out the process according v erated bythe new process. The two first in case of becoming useless for the present stages of the new process will together only equire about .one' and a half hours as compared with three or four hours which are required for removingthe water from the paper-board pile according to the -usual process.

. It is known to subject wood pulp or the like in the 'form of layersto a pressing operation betweenfcoarse wire grates having large interstices..fThis'process, however, is of: no

importance for removing-water from a material,-since/the relatively large meshes -or interstices of the wire-netsor perforated during the operation ofpressing, and conseuently no channels willbe produced in a irection transverse to the pressure.

A process of pressing had been devised some years ago, wherein perforated metal sheets provided with intermediate spaces are employed. The said means are not adapted for the present'purposes. In the said-process j the water will certainly be pressed through ,the perforations and may flowofi in lateral direction. But in conseqrlienceof t e pressure exertedon the pile, t e paperass-will enter the intermediate space of t e metalsheetsthrough the perforations thereof, this causing an extensive deformation of the' mass of the paper-board;

Inlorder to attain a more effective removal of the watery contents of the pa er-mass frequently sectionsor pieces of .1531 ric are used as intermediate layers." These fabrics, however, will easily assume the'structure of felt and as far as the removal of water-from the paper-mass is concerned, will not have ana other eflfect than the paper-mass itself, espe cially if higher pressures are employed.

Such fabrics will solely have the efiect of increasing the resistance of the paper-mass dur-- ing pressing against strains arising'in the-.- direction transversely to thepressing forces, which havethe tendency of tearing apart said fabrics.- These, fabrics are subjected to excessive wear and in addition to tiiisto soiling, so that frequent washing willbehecesin'g fabrics, a great number ;of such fabrics will always be required, because every sheet of paper-board must be enclosed by two of such pressing fabrics if-the removal of water shall be appreciably improved. This large number of pressing fabrics which will permanently besubject to great .wear renders the -.process very expensive; especially as the worn-out pieces of cloth. are almost without any value. The life-time of the wire-meshes 4 employed according to our invention, in contro-dlstmction to said presslng fabrics,

will practically be unlimited, and no ,ap-

. of permanent use.

preciable soiling will take place even in case In addition to this, these wiresmeshes even into as-m'any layers or packages as permissible withoutiinduly increasing the e endi'- purpose 'keep their value as waste-material.

The extent of the removal of the water. I from the paper mass maybe regIulatedin-v dependently of the force 1 of the pressure within wide limits by correspondingly choosing the temperature during the second stage of-the process, said temperature being most eflicient between 55 to 75 C. If necessarythe removal of water may be carried on more pressure. 'I

ers or packages of the paper-board may e L The thickness 61: the above" mentioned la v plates or the like will be completelyfilled up chosen'as desired. In general removal of the. water fromthe paper mass, will be the more board" pile shou d therefore be subdivided turefo'r manual labour required for uild-- .ing up the pile sheets and for taking the several layersorIpackagesapart, At the f facilitated, the'smaller-the thickness-of the layers. orpacka es is chosen. The paper-v same time the expenses which are caused in;

connection with the employment of a greater number of wire-meshes sho'uld be properly considered.

When using the term con-tentsof air-.dry matter or the like; we mean the contents of air-dry paper substance in-the'mass' of aper-board which is;treated in the-press. aper-board containing 12% of water is designated as air-dry; sothat a material of 50% contents of air-dry matter contains q a 1o0-1'2 I r 50 47 p of absolutely dry paper-board substance and 56%of water.

We claim sists in forming a pile of the sheets, subjecting the pile of sheetst'o mechanical pressure at ordinary temperature so asto remove -a j "portion of the water therefrom, assing elec-.

1. A process for removing water from wet I sheets of pasteboard and the like, which coni lowing a further quantity of water. to flow off from the pile of sheets without increasing the. ressure, increasing the supply of heat to the pile so as to raise the temperature ofthe sheets and then reducing the pressure, as-and for the purposes set forth.

sheets of pasteboard and the like, which consists in forming a pile of the sheets, subjecting'the pile of sheets to mechanical pressure at ordinary temperature so as to remove a portionof the water therefrom, assmg electric alternating currentthroug the sheets 2. A process for removing water from wet whilethe pile is subjected to pressure so as to pressure,

pile so as to raise the temperature of the sheets and alternately reducing andrestoringthe pressure applied to the pile of sheets, as"

supply heat td the pile so asto reduce thewi s- Q R cosityof-the Water remaining therein, allowing a further uantity :of water to flow ofi.

from the pile 0 sheets without increasing the increas ng the supply ofheat to the and for the'purposes :set forth.

In testimony whereof we efiix our sig-' natures.

RiOHARi) KASTNERQ,

vso 

